Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Winter in the Cariboo is beautiful. Ron and Lucy go skiing every day. I sometimes follow them on snowshoes (looking disturbingly like Marge Simpson with my cone cap)

Suzanne asked Ron if he could make her a vessel sink for her bathroom countertop. Have I mentioned that Ron is always up for a challenge?

First - a trial sink. Lacking the proper mold for the sink, he first fused a circle and then, complete with filled in bubble holes ( mistakes!), slumped the circle over a stainless steel bowl. This results in scalloped sides.

Now, for the real thing. To prevent bubbles, Ron did several things. He scored lines in the kiln shelf to allow air to escape from under the glass and raised it in the kiln so the side elements would not seal the edges. Then, he lowered the temperature rate.

These small glass beads are added to the design. The circle is designed and fused and then slumped over the stainless steel bowl

This is the finished sink. The hole for the drain is still a little small and will have to be enlarged.